


Flight Into Egypt:  New Life

by Vickiemoseley



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 19:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16290251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vickiemoseley/pseuds/Vickiemoseley
Summary: continuation of the Flight Into Egypt





	Flight Into Egypt:  New Life

Title: Flight Into Egypt: New Life  
Author: Vickie Moseley   
Summary: continuation of the Flight Into Egypt   
Series. Mulder and Scully find themselves on   
different sides of an important decision.  
Spoilers: Post The Truth  
Category: MSM, Williamfic, A  
Rating: PG (very clean)  
Disclaimer: I continue to write these stories, some   
8 years after I began. I'm still not making money,   
ask my family and my banker.  
A note about this series: These stories are set after   
The Truth, where Mulder and Scully leave Roswell   
the next morning and retrieve William, then set off   
for Montana where they build a new existence.   
This is the fifth story in the series. The others can   
be found on my web site. It would be helpful for   
you to read those stories before reading this one.  
Thank you, Mary, for such fast beta! Happy Easter,   
Joyous Passover, Glorious Spring (or Fall)   
everybody!   
Comments to vickiemoseley1978@yahoo.com

Flight Into Egypt: New Life  
By Vickie Moseley

Alexandria, Montana  
The Hale Residence  
April 5, 2003

Mulder chewed on the end of his pencil, staring out   
at the absolute whiteness beyond his window. The   
snow was coming down heavily and looked as if it   
would never stop. It was warm in his office, the   
room upstairs where he worked day and night to   
find out information about the coming alien   
invasion, yet he shivered as if taken by a chill.

Other thoughts tangled in his mind. The seeping   
cold of the USS Ardiss, his body so old and fragile   
that Scully had to wrap him in the sleeping bag and   
close his eyes with a touch of her palm. He'd been   
sure he was dying at that moment. His only thought   
upon closing his eyes was that the last face he saw   
was Scully's, even as old an haggard as it looked at   
the time, and he would take the sound of her voice,   
so soft and gentle and just how he always   
remembered it, to his watery grave.

The memories flashed and he was back on the field   
in Wilkesland, staring up at the bottom of a giant   
ship. The clouds above him swirled and darkened   
and took the ship into their folds. He turned and   
saw Scully, her red hair wet and plastered against   
her face. She looked so young, so beautiful that a   
single thought possessed his mind. 'I can die now,   
because she's here with me.' And he laid down his   
head and let the cold and darkness take him over   
into a deep, and he assumed permanent, sleep.

Why was it always so frigging cold when they were   
in danger?

A pair of strong hands, small but determined,   
gripped his shoulders and massaged the muscles   
tight from the morbid journeys of his mind.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Scully asked as she   
placed a kiss just behind his ear.

"Not worth that much, Scully," he replied softly and   
leaned his head back so she could kiss him on the   
lips. She smiled and sat down on his lap. His arms   
came up instinctively to encircle her.

"Where's the 'wild thing'?" he murmured, but the   
words were almost lost as he nuzzled her hair.

"Sleeping, amazingly enough. Remind me of this   
time, Mulder, the next time my arms start to ache."

He pulled back and looked at her seriously. "Arms?   
Is something the matter with your arms, Scully?   
What haven't you told me?"

She rolled her eyes at him and kissed his nose. "I've   
not hidden anything from you! I'm talking about   
babies." 

He replayed her last few words to him and his   
frown deepened. "No, you said your _arms_ ached.   
That has absolutely nothing to do with babies," he   
corrected.

"It's something Mary C said once. That she knew   
Stephen was going to be their last because her arms   
had stopped aching every time she saw a baby.   
Before, when she would see a baby--in the mall, in   
church, her arms would ache. She would want to   
hold her own baby in her arms."

"Why didn't she just pick up one of the ones she   
had?" Mulder asked, definitely confused and getting   
flustered with the direction of the conversation. He   
still wanted to know about these injured arms of his   
partner.

"No, Mulder, you don't understand. It's like hearing   
a baby cry, even when the baby you have is right in   
the room with you, playing with blocks," she said   
and sighed, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "I'm   
not explaining this well," she sighed again.

"You're heard a baby cry? In this house? What   
room?" he demanded.

"Mulder, would you get out of X File mindset for   
one minute?" she snapped, and then immediately   
regretted her harshness. "It's not an X file, Mulder.   
Or maybe it is, but it's not totally unexplained. It   
has to do with wanting another child."

He sat there, staring at her, his expression   
completely blank. Slowly, he drew his bottom lip   
between his teeth and she cringed because she was   
sure he was going to bite right through it.

"You want another child?" he asked, his voice   
cracking.

Until that moment, the thought had been only in her   
heart, not in her mind. But as she heard the words   
from his lips, she knew how right they were. She   
swallowed and nodded slowly. "Yes," she said   
breathlessly, in a whisper. Then stronger, with   
more conviction as the thought became more than a   
wisp, more substantial, "Yes, I want us to have   
another child."

Mulder continued to stare at her for a full five   
minutes. "I need some air," he said quietly and   
without warning, stood, dropping her to a standing   
position and walked past her out the door.

Her heart cracked a bit at his reaction, but she was   
more worried about where he thought he could go   
in the middle of a blizzard to 'get some air'. She   
hurried to the door and followed his retreating   
footsteps down the stairs. "Mulder, where do you   
think you're going?"

"You said we needed bread and milk, if this storm   
doesn't let up, Scully. I'm going into town."

She glanced outside at their driveway. The snow   
had started about an hour before and already the   
accumulation was probably a few inches or better.   
"Mulder, you'll never make it in this storm. We   
have enough milk to last at least two days and if   
need be, I can make a loaf of bread in the machine."

He had his coat on, and his hand on the door. "I'll   
just make sure all the windows are closed in the car,   
then. Maybe take a walk down the lane."

"Mulder, don't go out there," she pleaded, her hand   
on his as it gripped the doorknob. That got his   
attention and he favored her with a weak attempt at   
a smile.

"I'm not going far, Scully. Just a little walk. I just   
need to think a bit, that's all." His other hand   
reached down and sandwiched her smaller one. "I'll   
be right back, twenty minutes, half an hour tops. I   
promise."

She didn't trust her voice to speak so she gave him a   
single nod and drew her hand out of his warm ones.   
She held the door as she watched him jog down the   
steps, his collar turned up against the wind and his   
watch cap down, the New York Knicks muffler   
she'd bought him for Christmas flapping wildly   
behind him in the wind. When he got to the corner   
of the lane and moved out of view, she finally   
closed the door, realizing that she'd let in a   
considerable amount of cold. Or was that just her   
fear?

Another baby? How in God's name could she even   
think about another baby? He thought angrily.   
They were on the run! Sure, it was safe enough   
here in the mountains, but that could change at any   
moment. And they already had a child, William.   
They had lost him, or didn't she remember her own   
fears and the reasons she'd felt compelled to put   
their son up for adoption? In the end, they found   
him, but only with what Mulder still considered   
'divine intervention'. If they had arrived at the   
house a few days late, the baby could have been   
dead, starved and dehydrated in his own crib!

Mulder shuddered and the wind seemed to magnify   
his soul's chill. Another child! It was bad enough   
they were endangering William's life, but to   
willfully add another would be beyond   
irresponsible. Maybe all the time alone in the house   
had finally gotten to her. Scully was usually the   
more rational of the partnership, but this, this was   
insane! There was a coming alien invasion. She   
knew it, she believed it. He'd been afraid to tell her   
because he thought it would break her spirit, but in   
the end she accepted it and vowed to fight it with   
him. 

Now she was talking about another child without   
considering for a moment all the attention that child   
would require. William was finally becoming a   
little more self-sufficient, he could play by himself,   
he was close to being potty trained. He was feeding   
himself and drinking from a cup. Mulder hadn't   
mentioned it, but he was looking forward to having   
her help him in the office, maybe take some of the   
information he'd found and sift through it, see if   
there was a defense they could build against the   
aliens. It was a long shot, but they weren't without   
resources. Their lifestyle was pretty simple, they   
could spend some money on equipment and   
supplies for a small lab. But another baby would   
put that discussion off by another two years at least   
and then it would be getting dangerously close to   
the year of invasion. Was she willing to put   
William's future at stake just because her arms   
ached to hold another baby? 

Scully kept wiping the back of her hand at the tears   
streaming down her face as she put the ingredients   
in the breadmaker. Flour, a touch of sugar, salt, mix   
the yeast with some warm water. The actions were   
so familiar now that she didn't need to read the   
directions in the worn copy of _Joy of Cooking_   
she had found in the used bookstore in Mt. Airy.   
She put the metal basket in the machine, closed the   
lid and hit the button. The machine whirred to life,   
a slow and steady grinding sound telling her it was   
indeed working and in four hours and ten minutes,   
the house would be full of the smell of fresh baked   
bread.

Why wasn't life that easy? Just toss together the   
ingredients, pop it all in some big machine and walk   
away. In four hours and ten minutes come back to a   
perfect life. Seemed reasonable to her. She moved   
over to the kitchen table, laid her head down on her   
folded arms and sobbed.

She hadn't intended to get into a discussion of   
children. Hell, she thought she could go in and   
entice her partner to come to the bedroom and make   
love on a snowy afternoon. And it wasn't a question   
of whether she was comfortable using birth control.   
They'd been using birth control for several months,   
since coming to the mountains and she was fine   
with that. It was messy and sometimes it was a bit   
of chill on the mood, but they'd turned it into a   
game and Mulder never questioned the use of   
condoms. Neither had she, until she voiced the   
words aloud to him, even before they had formed in   
her mind.

Another child. What the hell had she been   
thinking? But that was it. She wasn't thinking.   
Calm, rational Dana Scully wasn't thinking this one   
through at all. She was feeling. And damn it if it   
didn't feel right and good. She never told Mulder,   
for that matter she'd never told anyone, that she   
hadn't really thought through any of the important   
decisions in her life. Her undergraduate and   
graduate degrees had been the advice of her parents   
and teachers.   
'You have an aptitude in math, Dana, take physics.'   
'You like science, Dana, take biology.' And she'd   
never questioned any of them. Oh, on rare   
occasions she would glance longingly at the display   
of photography projects from the art classes. But   
she didn't miss taking art, never really considered   
changing her major to journalism or political   
science. She was happy with the decisions others   
had made for her.

Later, her first truly impulsive action was, of all   
things, joining the FBI. She'd been in medical   
school, working a particularly long shift. She'd   
passed by the waiting room on her way to the   
morgue and when she looked at the screen, Jack   
Klugman's face was in close up. 'Quincy'. It was a   
running joke among the pathology rotation that all   
Medical Examiners had to smoke cigars. As her   
face turned to continue on to her destination, she ran   
smack into a woman in a navy blue jacket who   
asked directions to the morgue. Scully told her she   
was going there and offered to show the woman.   
Along the way, the woman told Scully she was an   
FBI agent and was there to look at victim's body. A   
comment she made stuck in Scully's mind.

"Makes me wish I was a pathologist. Those guys   
are like gold in the Bureau!"

Dana had put the whole thing out of her mind until   
the same woman came to the hospital some days   
later, with an older gentleman in tow. Over coffee   
in the cafeteria, they made their pitch. Would Dana   
consider joining the FBI, becoming a forensic   
pathologist? They talked briefly about salaries and   
forgiving student loans, but most of that was lost on   
Scully. Her heart had decided even before her mind   
could get around the implications. Before they left,   
she'd agreed. The next day she turned in her   
application. She didn't discuss it with her parents or   
her medical school advisers. She just packed up in   
a month, right at the end of her residency, and   
moved directly to the FBI Academy at Quantico.

And years later, in a lonely hotel room in Roswell,   
New Mexico, she didn't think through the pros and   
cons of throwing away her life to follow a   
condemned man on the run. She did it because it   
was right, right in her heart. And following that   
decision, she found other parts of her soul that she'd   
been sure she'd lost. William, primary among those   
pieces she'd given up, but more than that. The   
warmth of a home, the love of a family that was   
hers, friends to laugh with. She'd managed to get in   
a car and yet, get out of the car at the same time.   
And it had all been so good.

She sat up and wiped her eyes, looking out at the   
snow and hoping she hadn't ruined everything.

She looked up when she heard the front door.   
William had been up for a few minutes and she'd   
given him some crackers and juice it tide him over   
until dinner. She had just about decided it would be   
dinner for two when Mulder finally made his   
appearance.

He hung up his coat on the coat tree and toed off his   
boots by the door. On sock feet he padded into the   
kitchen. 

"Have a good nap, Big Guy?" he smiled   
affectionately down at William and stole a cracker   
crumb encrusted kiss from his son. With some   
hesitation, he looked over at Scully.

"Hi," he said sheepishly.

"Hi," she answered back, trying to sound casual.

He took in her red and puffy eyes, the still visible   
tear tracks on her cheek and a physical pain took up   
residence in his chest. What had he done? How   
could he make this right? He licked his lips and   
gave himself a minute by going to the stove and   
pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Want one?" he   
asked over his shoulder.

"No, I just finished a cup," she declined.

Coffee sipped, he had little choice but to talk to her.   
He leaned against the countertop and crossed his   
arms. "Scully, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have   
bolted like that."

She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. A single   
shoulder went up slightly in a half-hearted shrug.

"Scully, this is something big. And I want to talk   
about it, I do. But I'd rather wait until later this   
evening, when you and I can have some time alone.   
I don't want to discuss this with so many little ears   
around."

She nodded solemnly.

He wasn't doing this right, he could tell. Pushing   
himself off from the countertop, he walked over and   
knelt beside her, reaching up to touch her cheek   
with his index finger. "Scully, my love, my heart.   
Please listen to me. I love you. I love our son. I   
love our life, as it was before, as it is right now, as it   
will be in the future. Nothing we are discussing   
changes any of that. I swear to you."

The trembling lip quickly became tears and she   
threw her arms around him, hugging him as tightly   
as he was hugging her. "I know. I've always   
known." She kissed him on the top of his head and   
then lowered her face to capture his mouth. "We'll   
talk later."

Dinner was subdued, but not as tense as she thought   
it would be. She made stew and served it with the   
fresh bread. William was going through a finicky   
stage and refused to eat anything but the carrots out   
of the gravy. She gave up trying to coerce him to   
eat some of the potatoes and the meat and finally   
wiped his face and hands and lifted him out of the   
highchair. He scampered off into the living room to   
find his toys.

Mulder ate silently and then cleaned off the table.   
She started the dishwater and washed while he dried   
and put away. As she was draining the sink, she   
noticed the time. "Aren't the Knicks on tonight?"

He looked guilty and then nodded. She smiled at   
him. "Go ahead. I'll do story time tonight," she told   
him. He kissed her and hurried off to the living   
room and the big TV.

She found him staring out the window again. The   
television was off. "Game over already?"

"We were getting stomped. My heart couldn't take   
it," he said with a dry grin. He took her hand and   
pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around   
her and laying his head on her shoulder. "I think   
this was where we left off," he said lightly.

"Yeah. Maybe we should just leave it lie," she   
answered with a serious expression.

"No, that's not how we've done it for 9 years, I'm   
not going to start now. You want another baby."

She nodded. "But Mulder, I want you to want   
another baby. I refuse to force another child on you   
that you don't want."

His hurt expression caused her confusion. "Mulder,   
what I mean . . ."

"Scully, what on earth makes you think I don't want   
William? Or that there was ever a time when I   
didn't want William?" he demanded, his voice   
rough and pained.

"Don't misunderstand, Mulder, please! I know you   
love William. I have never for one moment   
doubted your love for him. But you agreed to help   
me with invitro fertilization. You thought that   
failed. William, no matter how much we love him,   
was a complete surprise! And to make matters   
worse, I was six months pregnant when you woke   
up. I remember how it affected you, Mulder. I   
remember your exact words. 'I don't know where I   
fit anymore.' And it tore me up inside. I would   
never force another child on you, because I know   
you would love it and care for it and yet you would   
always be trapped because of it."

He had closed his eyes halfway through her speech   
and she thought he'd stopped listening to her. But   
when her voice trailed off, he opened his eyes and   
his pain took her breath away. 

"Is that what you think I was talking about, Scully?   
That I was, what, jealous of the baby? That I felt   
'trapped' by your pregnancy? Scully, you know me   
so well, how could you ever think that about me? I   
wasn't referring to William, Scully. My God, he   
was the only thing keeping me sane. The thought   
that you had your heart's desire, and yes, it was my   
heart's desire, too, that kept me going. Don't you   
remember how it was when I woke up? I'd been   
dead, Scully. Buried. Buried three months. My   
life was wiped out. I had nothing but you and the   
baby. My job was gone, everything but you. But to   
think you believed that I felt that way about   
William . . ."

He shook his head and swallowed his own tears.   
"Scully, I wanted to give you a child so badly it   
hurt. And in many ways, I would love to give you a   
dozen children, give the Hawthornes a run for their   
money! But Scully, we have to be practical.   
William is our responsibility, and I will never regret   
having him. But right now, we can easily pick up   
and run if it gets too dangerous to stay here. With   
you pregnant, or with a newborn, that changes. We   
aren't as mobile, we're trapped here. Not that a   
baby is ever a bad thing, but to just decide to go   
through that without taking the risks into   
consideration . . . Scully, it's just irresponsible of   
us."

She sat on his lap, perfectly still. He ran his finger   
down her cheek, brushed his thumb across her lips.   
"Tell me what you're thinking, Scully. Please," he   
begged.

"I forgot," she said, her voice choked with emotion.   
"I forgot about the danger. How stupid of me!   
How thoughtless!"

"No, Scully, no! It's not like that! You weren't   
thoughtless or stupid. You're a mother. Just as I   
knew you'd always be, you're a terrific one. I'm not   
saying you're wrong to want another baby. I'm just   
saying, we need to think about it. That's all. That's   
all I'm saying." He hugged her close. "Besides, I   
_do_ remember how much fun it was making the   
first one," he muttered into her ear as he nipped at   
her lobe. She moaned as his lips caressed the spot   
right behind her ear. "What say we take this   
upstairs and 'practice' our technique," he purred.

"Last one naked has to turn out the lights," she   
tossed over her shoulder as she sprinted off his lap   
and toward the stairs.

April 13, 2003  
Palm Sunday

They hadn't really spoken about babies again, but   
each spent a good deal of the preceding week   
weighing the options. Scully accepted what Mulder   
was saying, the danger involved. Mulder thought   
about William's babyhood and all the joys he had   
missed while he'd been in hiding. And all around   
them, winter was releasing its hold and spring was   
starting to appear.

"I can't believe we were having a blizzard just a   
week ago," Mulder told Joe as they watched the   
Hawthorne's youngest, Stephen, help William hunt   
for Easter eggs with the other parish children   
around the church. It was a warm 54, everyone had   
on light jackets. The grass was a pleasant shade of   
green, buds were on most of the trees and crocuses   
were popping up in the most surprising places in the   
grassy lawn.

"Yeah, this is your first spring here, isn't it?" Joe   
chuckled. "One minute it's December, two minutes   
later it's April. But we always have one good snow   
before we get spring. Last week was just winter   
saying goodbye."

"Goodbye and good riddance," Mulder muttered.

"I thought you said you were from New England,"   
Joe teased. "You must have had long winters   
there."

"I was born on the islands, Martha's Vineyard. We   
had cold and snow, but not as much as the   
mainland. You couldn't go swimming until June,   
but spring was pretty there, if we didn't get much   
rain. This winter just seemed like it would never   
end."

"What's eatin' you, Hale?" Joe asked abruptly.

Mulder looked over at his friend, shock on his face.   
"Nothin' Joe. Nothing's eating me," he deflected   
and looked away to search for William on the field   
of children. "Oh, William just found an egg," he   
declared proudly.

"She wants another one, doesn't she?" Joe said,   
folding his arms across his chest and frowning.   
"Dana wants another baby."

Mulder jerked his head up and glared at his friend.   
"How could you possibly know that?"

"Women talk. Mary C., in case you haven't noticed   
it, talks a lot."

"Dana mentioned this to Mary C.?" Mulder   
croaked.

"Probably just came up. I think they were talking   
about the Sullivan's new baby," Joe said with a   
shrug.

Mulder pulled Joe away from the other proud and   
watchful parents. "Joe, you know a little bit about   
our situation. Bringing a baby into this family right   
now would be adding to the problem, not bringing   
joy. It's just not the right time for us."

Joe shook his head sadly. "You have absolutely no   
idea, do you?" he said with a sigh. "Hale, my   
friend, it's not up to you. Hell, if I'd had my way,   
Mary C. and me would be jetting to Hawaii every   
winter--just the two of us. Instead, one minute I'm   
22 years old, drunk on the quad at University of   
Montana, next minute I'm 47 with a wife and six   
kids. I have no idea how that happened, I just woke   
up and BAMM!"

"I can relate," Mulder said sadly. At Joe's raised   
eyebrow Mulder shook his head. "Long story. At   
least a six pack," he acknowledged and was grateful   
when Joe let the comment drop. "But that doesn't   
change our situation," he reminded both himself and   
his companion.

"Hale, if we waited for the perfect time to have   
kids, the human race would have died out years   
ago!" At Mulder's continued frown, Joe charged   
on. "OK, so maybe not, but you have to remember   
what it was like when this little guy was a baby," he   
pointed to William, who had just found another egg   
and had a look of slightly befuddled glee on his   
face. "You must want to experience that again,   
don't you?"

"I'd like to experience it for the first time," Mulder   
muttered, then looked over, thankful Joe had missed   
his heart talking out loud. He looked over and saw   
Dana and Mary C. walking toward them with   
another woman in tow. As they approached,   
Mulder saw that Scully was holding a bundle of   
blankets in her arms.

"What have you got there, sweetheart?" he asked a   
little too cheerfully. He knew perfectly well what   
she was carrying and for some reason it scared him   
more than an armload of body parts.

"This is Joshua David Sullivan," Scully said,   
drawing back the blankets so that Joe and Mulder   
could see the baby. A tiny red face adorned with   
lots of reddish fuzz on top squinted up at them from   
the comfort of the blankets. "Ellery, you remember   
Carrie Sullivan," she said as she gave the baby back   
to his mother. Mulder vaguely remembered Carrie   
and her husband Mike from the myriad of faces he   
was finally able to recognize in the parish.

"Boy, Carrie, he sure is a cutie," Joe said with a   
grin. "You didn't let Mary C. touch him, did you?"   
he demanded anxiously.

Carrie laughed. "I know the rules, Joe. Mary C.   
only gets to look," she smiled over at Mulder.   
"Would you like to hold him, Ellery?"

Mulder blanched and swallowed. Far-off memories   
of holding a tiny William, all tangled in blankets   
with silk edging, rushed through his mind. A gentle   
kiss over their newborn son. Then he had to leave   
them and just a soul-wrenching ache remained   
where his beating heart had been. He swallowed   
again. "I'm not sure, uh, I'm don't know if I   
remember how," he stammered.

"It's like riding a bike," Carrie insisted and placed   
the baby in Mulder's hands. "See, nothing to it."

"He's so tiny," Mulder whispered.

"How big was William?" Carrie asked Scully, but   
Mulder jumped in before she could answer.

"6 lbs, 9 oz. He was 20 and a quarter inches long.   
And he had blond hair, like my side of the family.   
The red was there but you had to hold him in the   
light just right to see it," Mulder continued, tears   
choking his voice. "And his fingers, his fingers   
used to wrap around mine, as if he never wanted to   
let me go." A tear streaked unnoticed down   
Mulder's cheek until he looked up to see the tears   
glistening in Scully's eyes. "You forget so much,"   
he said quietly, giving the baby back to Carrie. 

The three observers watched in silence as Scully   
wrapped Mulder in her arms. "So much you never   
got to see," she whispered up to him and kissed him   
on the cheek. "It's all right, don't cry," she   
murmured into his ear.

"That's supposed to be my line," he whispered back   
roughly and she pulled away to see his lop sided   
grin.

"OK, so it wasn't original," she grinned back. She   
turned when she remembered they had an audience.   
"We waited for William for a long time," she   
explained quickly.

A small ball of exuberance rushed over to them and   
wrapped his arms around Mulder's legs. "I find   
eggs, Daddy!" William proclaimed and held up his   
basket with four shining plastic colored eggs resting   
inside. 

"Wow, Buddy! Let's see what you have there,"   
Mulder happily redirected his thoughts to the here   
and now. He picked up his son and looked in the   
pro-offered basket. "One, two, three, four. Four   
eggs. You did great!"

"Four eggs, Mommy!" he cheerfully showed Scully.   
"See? Bunny left 'em!"

"Wow, let's see what's inside them," Scully   
suggested and they all walked over to the steps of   
the church to look at the eggs.

One whistle, two peeps and a bag of jelly beans   
later, it was time to head home. After all the time in   
the fresh air, William was sound asleep before they   
made the city limits. Mulder looked back at him   
and smiled fondly.

"He's cute when he's asleep," he said with a grin.

"And easier to handle. Just like his father," Scully   
shot back before turning her attention to the   
scenery. "Look at the trees budding. Spring is   
really here."

"I want us to have another baby," Mulder blurted   
out and Scully just about gave herself whiplash   
turning to stare at him.

"Mulder . . ."

"No, hear me out. You were right. Absolutely   
right, Scully. The whole aching arms thing, I think   
I get it now. Holding that baby, it brought it all   
back, all the stuff I missed. I missed you telling me,   
well, at least telling me when I couldn't already   
guess what was going on with you. And I missed   
out on his birth. And then I missed out on the first   
11 months of his life. My God, I hardly qualify as a   
parent, I've spent more time away from the two of   
you than with you."

"Mulder, you had very good reasons, you know   
that," Scully interjected.

"I know I did, Scully, I thought them up, but now . .   
. now I just know what I feel. I just want to get that   
feeling again, for the first time," he grinned   
sardonically at her. "You know what I mean," he   
concluded.

"Mulder, you were right last weekend," Scully   
insisted. At his raised eyebrow, she nodded in   
acknowledgement. "Yes, I just said that. I said you   
were right. Now, may I continue?" He nodded and   
bit his lip to keep the smirk from turning into a   
belly laugh. At her silence, he got himself under   
control. "You made a number of excellent points   
last weekend. There is still the danger that we   
might be found. My last pregnancy was not exactly   
a walk in the park . . ."

"I don't know, Scully, it sure reminded me of every   
time we've had a walk in the 'woods'," he muttered   
and grew silent again at her glare.

"And I don't think I want to try to drag two babies   
around while we're running for our lives. Now that   
doesn't mean I'm shelving the idea of another child   
forever. I just think we need to wait a while."

He drew in a deep breath, but didn't say a word.

"Mulder, I know exactly what you're feeling. And   
it's wonderful that at least we're sharing that longing   
together. But I really think you were correct to   
approach this rationally. And I apologize if   
anything I did today shook your belief in your very   
rational decision."

"So we wait a while." He said it so softly she   
almost missed it.

"Yes, we wait." She took his hand and grazed his   
knuckles with her lips. "Doesn't mean we can't   
'practice' till the cows come home," she said with a   
raised eyebrow.

April 20, 2003  
Easter Sunday (very early)

"Bunny! Bunny!" was still ringing in his ears as   
Mulder finally stretched out on the mattress. It was   
after midnight and Scully was sound asleep, or so   
he thought.

"Eggs hidden?" she muttered around her pillow.

"And the baskets. And no, I didn't peek in mine.   
I'll be totally surprised tomorrow," he added with a   
long yawn. There wasn't much else the long and   
thin object sticking out of his basket could be   
except a whiffle bat and ball set, but he wasn't going   
to let on. "What time did he go down?"

"You mean what time did he finally fall asleep?   
About fifteen minutes ago. Four stories, he lost   
Fluffy three times, and I thought Christmas was   
bad!"

"It's all the excitement. It's on TV, it's everywhere."

"We live on a mountain, all by ourselves," Scully   
pointed out with a glare. "And we limit the amount   
of television he sees to ESPN," she added dryly.

"OK, so _we_ have been excited," he admitted.   
That got him a raised eyebrow that he barely   
recognized in the pale moonlight. "All right, _I've_   
been excited." At her agreeing nod, he slid further   
under the covers. "When do you think he'll be up?"

"Three seconds after the first bird call," she replied   
sleepily. "Mass is at 8, we have to bring the   
casserole for the parish brunch, and then it's on to   
the Hawthornes' for Easter dinner."

He rolled on to his side and pulled her in to his   
arms. "Can we snuggle?"

"As long as you expect absolutely nothing beyond   
that," she warned and then kissed his nose sloppily.   
It didn't matter, he was already asleep.

Scully rolled over when she heard the noise. At   
first she thought it was William, out of bed and   
wanting to join them. Since they'd moved him from   
his crib to a youth bed, his late night wanderings   
had become fairly commonplace. She liked to put   
the blame on his father's genes. But it wasn't   
William, the shadow was much larger.

"Dana, wake up." The voice was one she hadn't   
heard in years, six years to be exact. It was her   
sister, Melissa.

"Missy?" Scully asked, sitting up. She sat against   
the headboard and watched her sister sit on the foot   
of the bed, legs drawn up Indian fashion. "What are   
you doing here?"

"Checking in. Making sure you get all the facts."

Scully shook her head. She glanced over at Mulder,   
but he was sound asleep. She thought about waking   
him . . .

"Don't bother Fox. He's exhausted. Besides, he   
won't see me. I'm not here to see him, just you,   
Short Stuff."

Only Missy called her Short Stuff. Well, and lived   
to tell the tale. Scully swallowed hard. Was this   
what it was like when their fathers had visited   
Mulder and told him where to find William?

"Missy, why are you here? What do you need to   
tell me?"

"I just don't want you to waste your life waiting for   
the other shoe to drop. Dana, you have all the   
power. You will find the answers. That's been   
known from the start. Don't let saving the world get   
in the way of your happiness."

Scully absently clutched at her stomach, looked   
down at her hand and then up to her sister. "I want   
another child."

Missy smiled. "Go for it. It's your life, Dana.   
Yours and Fox's and William's. Don't let others   
dictate your choices."

"But the danger . . ."

"You will handle that when it comes. As you   
always have."

Dana bit her lip and closed her eyes for just a   
second. When she opened them to say something to   
Missy, there was no one at the foot of the bed.

"Missy? Missy, come back!" she called and looked   
frantically around the room. "Missy, I don't   
understand."

When she opened her eyes, two small hazel eyes   
looked at her and she smiled instantly. "Hey,   
Sweetheart. You need to get back in bed."

William shook his head and pointed out the   
window. The sun was already peeking through the   
curtains. "Bunny, Mommy. Bunny!"

She rolled over to wake Mulder and found the other   
side of the bed bare, but still warm. Mulder entered   
from the hallway to the bathroom. "Hey,   
sleepyhead, we've been trying to get you up for   
hours!"

"Hours," she challenged, one eyebrow firmly   
cocked.

"OK, the last five minutes. I left my main man in   
charge while I answered nature's call. So, can we   
get downstairs and start looking for those eggs?"

Scully tossed back the covers and tugged on her   
robe and slippers, following her men down the   
stairs. Mulder had done a good job, the eggs were   
hidden, but most were in plain sight and just about   
William's level. He found 10 out of the dozen   
Mulder had hidden without any assistance.

"Well, that's the old bloodlines showing," Mulder   
grinned proudly. He helped William find the last   
two eggs and then turned to looking for their   
baskets. William found his basket just behind his   
toy box and squealed with delight at the container   
of bubble liquid and the pinwheel sticking out of the   
jelly beans and chocolate rabbits. Mulder made a   
great show of trying to locate his own basket, and   
oohed and ahhed over the new work gloves and a   
box of bandaids.

"This is a not too subtle hint that I need to clean out   
the gutters?" he asked with a pained expression. 

"Wear them in good health, G-Man," Scully smiled   
at him.

"Hey, you still have a basket to find," Mulder   
reminded her. She started looking around the room,   
finding the basket behind the rocking chair by the   
window. She moved aside the chocolate hollow   
egg imprinted with her name and the row of   
marshmallow peeps. At the bottom of the basket   
was a large square bottle. She brought it up to her   
face to squint at it without the aid of her contacts or   
glasses. 

"Prenatal vitamins?" she read slowly and then   
stared up at Mulder with a confused expression.   
"Mulder, what . . ."

He took the four steps to stand behind her, wrapping   
her in his arms. He leaned down and whispered in   
her ear. "Most obstetricians recommend a woman   
should start taking prenatal vitamins before she   
becomes pregnant."

She turned in his arms and looked up at him with a   
frown. "Mulder, you were so set on waiting. What   
changed your mind?"

"I admit, I'd bought the vitamins when I was so sure   
a week ago. And then I was set to throw them out.   
But I heard you and Missy talking. Last night."

"That was a dream," Scully whispered.

"I couldn't see her, but I could hear her plain as   
day," Mulder said with a serious look. "You have   
all the power. You will find the answers. Don't let   
saving the world get in the way of your happiness."   
He pulled back and looked into the eyes. "I got the   
bottle out of the drawer and added it to your basket.   
Just in case you need the add incentive."

She didn't trust herself to speak. She just shook her   
head. A single tear streaked down her cheek and   
Mulder wiped it away with his thumb. 

"Here, here, none of that," he clucked. "So, can we   
start trying tonight?" he asked impishly.

"You'd probably like to start right now, this very   
minute," she sniffed. Then she pushed him away.   
"But you'll have to wait until tonight," she smirked.

"I think I can handle that," he said, kissing her   
gently. 

A tug on her robe made her look down. William   
was pretty much covered in chocolate and was   
tugging at a bag of fruit snacks with sticky fingers.   
He held the goo-encased bag up in a silent plea for   
assistance. She sighed. "And we want another   
one?" she asked with feigned dismay.

"Maybe this one will be neater?" he offered.

The end. And yes, there is more coming, I promise.


End file.
